Mozambique’s LNG production good news for Eswatini 

By Ntombi Mhlongo
 
The prospects of neighbouring Mozambique becoming a main driver of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and export could be good news for the Kingdom of Eswatini.

This week, according to the Club of Mozambique News, consultancy firm Fitch Solutions estimated that gas production in sub-Saharan Africa will rise from 80.5 billion cubic metres to 135.2 in 2032, with Mozambique being one of the main exporters.

In March last year, Mozambique’s Electricity Company (EDM) signed a new contract to supply power to the Kingdom of Eswatini. At the time, it was said that the contract has a duration of 17 months and provides for EDM to supply 20 megawatts of power, a quantity that can be revised depending on the needs of Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC).

The bilateral relationship between EDM and EEC is over a decade old, with Mozambique and South Africa being the main suppliers of energy that Eswatini imports to meet over 70 per cent of its domestic consumption needs.

Also, with South Africa’s Eskom facing challenges, the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini has already made it known that it will explore importing more from Mozambique.

Explaining the possibility of Mozambique becoming the main gas driver, Fitch Solutions said the outlook for the evolution of natural gas production in sub-Saharan Africa is positive.

“We expect production to increase from the current 80.5 billion cubic metres to 135.2 billion cubic metres in 2032, with the biggest area of investment in the region in the coming years being the expansion of liquefied natural gas export capacity,” the analysts wrote.

Club of Mozambique News reported that besides Mozambique, Nigeria, Mauritania and Senegal are the main drivers of the rise in the production and export of natural gas.

“Natural gas infrastructure expansion is crucial to boost demand in the region; some markets in the region are slowly making progress in this regard,” they say, pointing to the example of Mozambique, which plans to build from early this year a “gas import terminal in the south [Matola LNG] that would give the country a reliable source of gas supply to secure growing demand,” Fitch said.